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Flurry: Women make 31% more in-app purchases than men

Women make 31 percent more in-app purchases than men, according to a recent report from Flurry. Following the surprise success of the game Kim Kardashian: Hollywood, the analytics firm decided to dig deeper into gender differences across a variety of mobile gaming factors.

Some key findings from the report include:

Females spend 35 percent more time in gaming apps than males.

Women have 42 percent higher seven-day retention on average than males.

Out of 19 categories of iOS games Flurry studied, nine categories skew female, including the top two categories from a time-spent perspective.

"While the broadening of the mobile gaming base may not be welcome by hardcore male gamers, it brings good news to advertisers seeking to reach their audience," the report states. "In fact, advertisers are shifting billions of dollars in advertising to the mobile platform with the hopes of reaching the audience that is glued to smartphones and tablets 24/7/365."

Developers may have suspected for a while now that women are an increasing part of the casual-gaming audience, but Flurry's data suggests that their interest goes far beyond Candy Crush Saga. These are users who aren't just engaged but are willing to help monetize what they use. As the industry wrestles with how to make in-app purchasing more transparent and profitable, appealing to women will be a key part of this effort.

Beyond IAPs, Flurry also notes that the rise of female mobile gamers should be welcome news to advertisers who have been sitting on the fence about making a deeper investment in marketing via apps. Developers should be proactive in capitalizing on this information to explore how they might reap the financial benefits of this trend.